But while some of those features obviously and directly target that aim to boost creativity, such as the new Paint 3D app, the Creators Update is packed full of all sorts of other handy and impressive new features. Most of these have no direct connection with ‘creativity’, or even content creation of any kind, but many of them should still prove to be very useful.

Indeed, a great deal of those new features will simply make Windows 10 a 'better' OS, with a more complete, more secure, and more cohesive user experience. That may well help to boost creativity – as well as productivity – in unexpected ways.

Paint 3D

One of the first announcements that Microsoft made regarding the Creators Update was a major overhaul for one of the most familiar built-in Windows applications. Paint 3D is a radical revamp of the classic Paint app, integrated with one of Microsoft's key mantras for the Creators Update: "3D for everyone".

Some of these new headsets will be priced as low as $299, and Microsoft believes that by reducing the cost of VR hardware, and making mixed reality a core component of the OS, it will greatly expand the use of this technology among consumers and businesses alike.

Microsoft Edge

Perhaps the most significant change to the Edge web browser is Microsoft's decision to begin blocking Flash content by default, improving security and performance, as well as offering some battery life improvements on mobile PCs.

Other new features include Web Payments support in the browser, web-to-app linking, and new Jump List support, which lets users right-click on the Edge taskbar icon to be able to launch a new window. Edge in the Creators Update includes WebRTC 1.0 support for plugin-free video communications.

Night Light

Originally introduced as 'blue light settings', Night Light is a new feature for Windows 10 PCs that will enable users to reduce the amount of blue light emitted by their screens in the later hours of the day. This includes the ability to gradually transition from the standard 'day' display to Night Light over the course of a couple of minutes.

The idea behind Night Light - of which Google and Apple have also introduced their own versions in Android and iOS - is that by showing 'warmer' colors outside of daylight hours, it should help users who stare at their screens before bed to sleep more easily.

Improved high-DPI support

The Creators Update brings better support for desktop apps on high-DPI displays. Some of these improvements are enabled by default on certain desktop apps, but Microsoft says "you can enable them yourself for other GDI-based applications too".

Precision touchpad

Sometimes, the smallest changes can make a big difference to improving the usability of a device. Microsoft has made OS-level improvements to its precision touchpad support, which make using gestures far more pleasant.

For example, it's tweaked the way touchpads react to three-finger swipes to increase or decrease volume, making it easier to change the volume by a significant amount with a single gesture, while still being able to adjust volume by smaller amounts without difficulty.

App folders on the Start menu

This new feature will already be familiar to Windows phone users, but Microsoft has finally added the ability to group apps together in Start menu folders on Windows 10 PCs.

Just like on phones, creating a new app folder is as simple as dragging a tile on top of another one. Tapping on the folder tile opens it up to reveal all the apps contained within it.

The 'old' Windows 10 sharing UI, which hadn't changed since Windows 8

It's nice to share

Until now, the Windows 10 user experience for sharing content - for example, a photo that you want to tweet, or a web link that you want to email to someone - hadn't changed since Windows 8 (!!). In the Creators Update, Microsoft is finally giving it a new "app-focused and integrated" design, which first appeared in Insider Preview build 15002.

Picture-in-picture mode

Apps built on the Universal Windows Platform will now be able to support the new 'Compact Overlay' feature - essentially a picture-in-picture mode for Windows 10. This feature will allow users to continue watching a TV show, for example, while they get on with work in another window.

Cortana

There's a wide range of improvements and new capabilities in Microsoft's digital assistant as part of the Creators Update, including:

One major new addition is that of support for braille input and output through specialized braille displays. It's also making big improvements to Narrator support, and adding new audio experiences, as well as boosting integration of Windows 10's assistive technologies with products such as Office 365. This also includes improved legibility in UWP apps when used in high-contrast mode.

Microsoft has promised that "inclusive design and accessibility" will now be at heart of the development process for all of its products and services.

Security enhancements

Microsoft has often stated that Windows 10 is the "most secure" version of its operating system to date, but the company isn't resting on its laurels. With the Creators Update, it's introducing new measures to help users stay secure while using their devices - whether they're consumers, or in enterprise. These include:

'Windows Goodbye'

While Windows Hello provides biometric authentication for Windows - based on a scan of your face, iris recognition, or fingerprint input - a new feature nicknamed 'Windows Goodbye' will also bring an extra bit of security to the Creators Update.

The feature is actually named Dynamic Lock, and uses proximity detection of your Bluetooth-paired phone to identify when you've left your computer unattended, and automatically locks your PC after 30 seconds.

Of course, that's great if you keep your phone in your pocket while you leave your PC to go and get a coffee. But if you generally leave your phone in your bag at your desk when you go to grab a drink or head to the restroom, Dynamic Lock does appear a bit less useful. Still, it's nice to have these options available.

"More control over your data"

Along with new security features, Microsoft is also improving privacy controls in Windows 10, including a new out-of-box setup experience for the Creators Update, which offers clearer explanations of why the company is collecting certain user data, and more granular controls to enable or disable that collection.

A closer look at Microsoft's privacy changes in the Creators Update can be found here.

A better update experience

Microsoft has introduced the new Unified Update Platform, designed to provide a more 'seamless' update process for Windows 10. But another key function of the UUP will be to make major updates much smaller. This will involve only installing "a differential download package [that] contains only the changes that have been made since the last time you updated your device, rather than a full build."

Windows 10 Mobile

The list of new additions and major improvements to Windows phones is much shorter than of those heading to PCs, although some of the features listed above will also be supported on Windows 10 Mobile devices.

This isn't an exhaustive list by any means, but changes in the Windows 10 Mobile Creators Update include:

Ability to use Cortana to control music playback in more apps

Cortana can now recognize and identify songs in China

Buy and read e-books from the Windows Store, along with support for reading EPUB books in Microsoft Edge on phones, and 'read aloud' functionality

Two major additions to Windows 10 Mobile won't be in the Creators Update either. The first is Night Light, which is already confirmed for PCs; the second is a set of improvements to the PC-style Continuum experience for high-end Windows phones. Enhancements for Continuum were originally announced in September.